How to Write an Effective Meeting Agenda

If you go to the trouble of planning and presenting a meeting to your staff, you want to make sure to use their time--and yours--effectively. This method of writing a meeting agenda will help you accomplish that and help your staff retain the information given at the meeting.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Head your agenda with the date, time and title or purpose of the meeting.
2. Create a welcome message for your staff. An inspirational quote, a list of items to bring to the meeting or a list of tasks that must be completed prior to the meeting are good ideas. A quality welcome message will help to get your staff members engaged.
3. Compile a list of topics you will be discussing at the meeting. The first item on the list should refer to the welcome message as this will make the message meaningful and purposeful.
4. Approximate the time that will be spent on each item. This will help your staff determine the importance of each item and prepare to participate in the discussion if time allows.
   
5. Include an "Open" or "Questions" item at the end of your meeting. Give staff time for feedback or to clarify information.
6. Complete the agenda by adding a task for staff to complete or a question they must reply to. Remember to follow up on these tasks so the staff knows they are important.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure staff members have the agenda 24 to 48 hours prior to the meeting so they can review what is to be discussed and properly prepare for the meeting.
• Have staff members keep notes on agendas and keep them in a notebook or file for easy reference.